Curated OER
Writing a How-To Paper
In this ESL writing instructional activity, learners choose one of ten story starters and write an essay on how to do something. No hints or procedures are provided.
Curated OER
The Art of Adaptation
Students examine and discuss animal adaptation. They read an article about snakes, conduct research on ways animals adapt, develop a diagram, and write a short story written from the perspective of the animal they researched.
British Council
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream takes center stage in an interactive designed for an audience of English learners. After watching a short animated version of the play, individuals read a printed version of the script, match the...
Curated OER
Print & Go ESL
Improve reading comprehension with a set of ESL worksheets. Kids read through various passages, note which facts are true or false, mark their opinion on two statements, and write a short reply based on a writing prompt.
British Council
Hamlet
Introduce language learners to William Shakespeare's Hamlet with an interactive that presents a short, animated version of key scenes from the tragedy. Also included is a game where pupils match the image of a character with their name,...
British Council
Macbeth
Double the fun of studying Shakespeare with an interactive that introduces English learners to Macbeth. After watching a short, animated video that presents key elements of the plot, class members complete a worksheet identifying the...
British Council
Much Ado About Nothing
An interactive introduces English learners to William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Pupils watch a short animated version of the play, match character names with images from the video, and put sentence strips in order.
City College of San Francisco
Making Inferences: Reading Between the Lines
Have you ever read part of a story and had to figure out what the rest was about? Practice making inferences with several short passages and multiple choice questions.
Minnesota Literacy Council
Grapes of Wrath and Pronouns
Many regard John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the great American novel. The lesson plan combines a variety of strategies, including partner work, independent practice, creative writing, grammar instruction, and small group...
Common Sense Media
The Masque of the Red Death
Poe goes high tech with a lesson that asks high schoolers to use the internet and various apps as they read and analyze "The Masque of the Red Death." In addition to responding to comprehension questions in Quizlet, they use Minecraft to...
TED-Ed
Lessons from Auschwitz: The Power of Our Words
Some words are best left unspoken. Words matter, according to Benjamin Zander, conductor, teacher, and lecturer. To illustrate his point, Zander recounts a story told to him by a survivor of Auschwitz. As a result of her experience this...
K12 Reader
What Happens Next?
While your students may not be psychics, that doesn't mean they can't predict what will happen next in a story. To hone this important reading comprehension skill, young learners read a series of three short passages before writing a...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Saved from the Gallows — the Trial of Leopold and Loeb
Was justice served for Bobby Franks? An informative article about the 1924 trial of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold includes an overview of the murder of Bobby Franks, the defense’s legal strategy, and excerpts of closing arguments from...
Have Fun Teaching
When Am I? (16)
How can you tell when a story takes place? Use context clues to infer the time of day and seasons of five short reading passages. Kids then note each passage's time period as daytime or nighttime, as well as winter or summer.
Teach-nology
Language Arts Activity - Cloze
Using context clues is an important skill when mastering reading comprehension. A cloze activity prompts learners to read each sentence in a short passage and fill in the blanks, based on what the rest of the sentence says.
K5 Learning
Treasure Hunt
After reading about a book that leads two friends on a treasure hunt, class members respond to four short answer reading comprehension questions. Skills include describing the characters, retelling the story in their own words, writing...
Scholastic
Lesson 1: What Are Barriers?
Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier possible.
E Reading Worksheets
Poetic Devices Finder
Track the poetic elements in any text with a guided reading worksheet. Kids note examples of consonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, rhyme, and rhythm when reading a poem or story, and provide a short explanation as to why...
Reed Novel Studies
Holes: Novel Study
Nothing good comes from being under a curse. A study guide introduces the novel Holes by Louis Sachar and the curse the main character faces. Readers analyze key vocabulary words from book, as well as complete a series of short writing...
Balanced Assessment
Dollar Line
Challenge the class to develop a story that matches a graph. The short assessment provides a line graph with the vertical axis labeled as dollars. The task asks pupils to develop a description of a situation that could be represented by...
Wise Owl Factory
Henry and Mudge
Henry and Mudge are best friends in Cynthia Rylant's book series featuring the adventures of a boy and his dog. Use this activity packet to accompany Henry and Mudge: The First Book and Henry and Mudge Take the Big Test. Learners...
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
Eric Carle Mural
Inspire first grade artists to learn about abstract and realistic art while reading Eric Carle's Where are you Going? To See My Friend. Young artists design and make a mural collage by tearing shapes of paper while comparing English and...
Curated OER
Poetic Elements
Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...
National Gallery of Art
Van Gogh’s Self-Portraits
Scholars get to know famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, as an artist as well as a person. After reading personal letters and analyzing paintings, participants paint two self-portraits that represent their personality. Then, write a...